PHR
Apr 24, 2025
A light briefing on the founding, and the importance of unifying the Black and lower class neighborhoods.
Lots of us know about the overall existence of the Black Panther Party; how it was deemed a "terrorist organization" by racist regimes in the US, or that it was an alleged "extremist" group.
This is a short article detailing a bit about the founding, history and the 10 points of interest of the BPP. We'll be going more in-depth on the Black Panther Party and its relevance in our common diaspora in future articles.
The idea of self defense has long struck a violent chord amongst the systemically racist authorities in California, or in general in the US. After all, the police force was never designed to truly protect us as a people, but the high class and the elite from the subhuman lower class, the regular citizens. Of course, there was a lot of resistance from the US government, given how the citizens were standing up and protesting lawfully against police brutality and racism.
The Black Panther Party for Self Defense (BPP) was founded by Huey P. Newton, and Bobby Seale, who aimed to make safe spaces for their communities, and educate them in the process.
They started organizing in their communities and started armed supervision of the Oakland police from a lawful distance, assuring witness and protection against racist and prejudiced actions orchestrated by the authorities.
Newton and Seale travelled door to door throughout their community and asked residents what was concerning to them, through this endeavor; they compiled 10 points of interest and implemented them into their overall mission. Here they are:
We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community.
We want full employment for our people.
We want an end to the robbery by the Capitalists of our Black Community.
We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.
We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in the present day society.
We want all Black men to be exempt from military service.
We want an immediate end to POLICE BRUTALITY and MURDER of Black people.
We want freedom for all Black men held in federal, state, county and city prisons and jails.
We want all Black people when brought to trial to be tried in court by a jury of their peer group or people from their Black Communities, as defined by the Constitution of the United States.
We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace.
As our first article and highlight, we believe the Black Panther Party deserves to have its first spot in our highlights.
Other truly notable members of the BPP would include(but not limited to): Fred Hampton, Barbara Easley, Elaine Brown, Eldrige and Kathleen Cleaver, and Ericka Huggins.
(Source for information on the Black Panther Party - Not sure how trustworthy the National Archives are in 2025 under the new administration, but you can access FBI documentation and more here: https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/black-power/black-panthers#bpintro)
(Books on the Black Panther Party: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/52705.Huey_P_Newton, https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/5601773.Fred_Hampton)